# Seven Years After September 11, 2001 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 11, 2008, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seven-years-after-september-11-2001/463087 "2008-09-11T12:06:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seven-years-after-september-11-2001/463087/21 "2008-09-11T14:05:47Z")
> [@WILLASS](#): > > I’m honestly not trying to hijack a thread about what is obviousley a very emotional subject but do you think that the way some people react to a tragedy like this in the US is in part due to the shock of it, the fact that in effect this was maybe the 2nd external terrorist attack on US soil? I couldn’t tell you how other people reacted, I just know what I went through that morning. I was running on about 1% logic and 99% emotion. And at the time, not all of the facts were in. Somehow I thought that all of Afghanistan was in on it. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seven-years-after-september-11-2001/463087/22 "2008-09-11T14:07:40Z")
I saw an American flag flying at half staff on my way to work this morning. The sight of a lowered flag really affects me, for some reason. Seven years ago, I made every effort to keep my 5-yr-old from knowing what had happened, and the only thing he really noticed was the lowered flags all over the city. ---
**Author:** ![Nuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea666f/32.png) [@Nuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nuke)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seven-years-after-september-11-2001/463087/23 "2008-09-11T14:22:09Z")
In case you missed this the first time… > **[My 9-11 story - Different from others you've read...Seriously](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=210609)** > > The following is VERY long. “Cliff Notes” are at the bottom so you can judge whether it’s worth your time, but please take the time to read the whole thing. I’m an engineer, not a writer, so I apologize for the stilted writing style. What you are... ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seven-years-after-september-11-2001/463087/24 "2008-09-11T14:23:02Z")
I’m finding it really hard to get moving this morning, and I finally figured out why. It’s another beautiful September day, with a brilliant blue sky and bright sun and the temperature is that lovely not-too-hot-and-not-too-cool. I found myself going out my front door and marveling what a beautiful day… … just like in 2001. And just like in 2001 I am going off to work on a mundane morning, but this time I realize how fragile that beauty and peace really is, and I wonder if I’m going to go through my day with that tight feeling in my shoulders you get when you feel something behind you, but you don’t quite know what it is. I want this to be a beautiful, wonderful, joyful, peaceful day; an uneventful day at work, and ordinary day just like any other day. But even if it is, it won’t quite be, because all the flags are at half staff today and we are all at best just a little sad. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seven-years-after-september-11-2001/463087/25 "2008-09-11T14:24:53Z")
> [@WILLASS](#): > > I’m honestly not trying to hijack a thread about what is obviousley a very emotional subject but do you think that the way some people react to a tragedy like this in the US is in part due to the shock of it, the fact that in effect this was maybe the 2nd external terrorist attack on US soil? I think you’ll get a variety of reactions, some due to unfamiliarity with this kind of thing, and also the differences in people. I cried for a week and just wanted to hole up with my family. I didn’t feel anger. It was more of a deep sadness in realizing that people actually did this to other people. The idea that someone could actually do something so horrible is almost beyond comprehension. I know that there have been many of these “someones” throughout history, but I’ll never be able to wrap my brain around this kind of inhumanity. It just doesn’t register. ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seven-years-after-september-11-2001/463087/26 "2008-09-11T14:29:38Z")
Seems like a hundred years ago. Hard to remember “before 9/11” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seven-years-after-september-11-2001/463087/27 "2008-09-11T14:49:30Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > I’ve watched a couple of shows out there now on the technical aspects behind the collisions, why the WTC towers collapsed and why one lasted about twice as long as the other, what was accomplished by the new construction at the Pentagon to mitigate the effects of the impact, etc. Those I found fascinating and absorbed with no problem. > > I’m still not ready yet though to watch the dramatization of Flight 93 or relive the horror that N.Y. and all of us glued to the TV went through that day. I’m keeping your link and someday will be able to view it, but for now it just makes me so damn sad. I’m with you on this one. I don’t need a film to remind me of that day, and I really resented the RNC using it to promote their candidate at the convention. I did finally watch “Flight 93” a couple of months ago, but a dramatization is different than the horror of the reality in NYC. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seven-years-after-september-11-2001/463087/28 "2008-09-11T14:50:22Z")
Just recieved this email from my sister. At the time, she taught ballroom dance in Tribeca: > [@](#): > > I am sitting in my office today listening to the reading of the names of those who died at the WTC. > > We lost three students that day. > > G. T. took group classes at our studio. > > Nigel T. had taken lessons with his then-fiancée to prepare for their wedding. They had just celebrated their one-year anniversary. > > ``` > We spoke to Nigel's wife later. She was amazing; she expressed gratitude that they had had "at least one wonderful year together." > > ``` > > Cathy L. was taking lessons with her fiancée Eric to prepare for their wedding. They had been sweethearts since high school. Eric was a tugboat captain; Cathy worked at Cantor Fitzgerald. > > ``` > Eric and Cathy were booked for a lesson that day. It was our practice to call students to confirm lesson appointments. We didn't know that Cathy worked in the twin towers. We didn't know what was going to happen either -- we thought it would be like the 1993 bombing, catastrophic for a few people but not a major disaster for so very very many. > > So, trying to go forward with our day, we called Eric as we usually would. He told us that he had to get off the phone because Cathy was in the towers. > > Eric ended up ferrying passengers with his tugboat from lower Manhattan to New Jersey and Staten Island all that day and into the evening (remember all the roads were closed and all transportation closed down). > > Many weeks later we spoke to Cathy's relatives (Eric was still not able to talk to us because it reminded him so painfully of their wedding), who asked us to make a donation to a charity in her name, which we did. > > ``` > > I remember them and am thankful that we, and our family, have remained safe and sound through this and other disasters. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seven-years-after-september-11-2001/463087/29 "2008-09-11T15:11:35Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > This video - and I must warn you there are some graphic images here - is the one that has moved me the most, and is a stark reminder of why the day is so memorable: > > [Can’t Cry Hard Enough](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KonFRhqbj2I) But what the hell is that Photoshopped image of the dork on top of the tower with the incoming plane behind him doing in there?? ---
**Author:** ![WILLASS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/54ee81/32.png) [@WILLASS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WILLASS)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seven-years-after-september-11-2001/463087/30 "2008-09-11T15:28:29Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > I think you’ll get a variety of reactions, some due to unfamiliarity with this kind of thing, and also the differences in people. I cried for a week and just wanted to hole up with my family. I didn’t feel anger. It was more of a deep sadness in realizing that people actually did this to other people. The idea that someone could actually do something so horrible is almost beyond comprehension. I know that there have been many of these “someones” throughout history, but I’ll never be able to wrap my brain around this kind of inhumanity. It just doesn’t register. Do you know what? This just saddens me further in that it shows how hardened a country can quickly become to terrorism - honestly, I don’t think Brits react in the same way due simply to the fact that it has been all too familiar. It saddens me even further that it seems as if this almost stole that ‘innocence’ from a lot of Americans. I realise that could sound very patronising but I swear I mean it in a very positive way - you guys have obviousley only recently been exposed to this kind of thing and it’s heart breaking seeing the reactions of people of shock and confusion something I never really noticed in Britain even when my Father was directly involved. I’m actually welling up a little bit here. I hope you understand that what I have said is not meant to be patronising and may have been explained badly but it makes sense to me and I hope it does to you. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seven-years-after-september-11-2001/463087/31 "2008-09-11T15:33:08Z")
I guess I deal with a lot of emotion by,…well not dealing with it at all. Its been working pretty good so far. But not today, I can’t get started, I just keep going back to that day and dwelling on it, and I don’t want to. I and my wife were in the Pentagon that day, office 3D765, when we were knocked to the floor and all the windows were flung inward all at once. There was black smoke everywhere. We knew basically that our building was under attack, but didn’t know how bad it might get. We spent a few precious minutes at our PCs downloading irreplaceable files to our thumbdrives as fast as we could. The exit maps took us straight into the fires and we had to turn back and make our way out of the building some other way. Together we made it out and started to help. My wife was an EMT once and sprang into action like some kind of superwoman; helping the stricken, calming the panicked, she sucumbed to the smoke not once but 3 times before I could get her completely away from the building and she still wanted to go back and help. She spent sometime in the hospital due to her asthma attacks but was back at work one day later, because there was work that needed doing. Today, the same company she was working for then is laying her off. I think that’s what is bothering me the most. She did her company proud and is a hero, but her name is on the drop list. Think I need a drink. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seven-years-after-september-11-2001/463087/32 "2008-09-11T15:36:29Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > I think you’ll get a variety of reactions, some due to unfamiliarity with this kind of thing I think this is a lot of it right there. The American public is not used to this sort of thing. War and terror and bombings and things like that happen ‘someplace else.’ We all know about the IRA the guerrilla warfare that goes on in central America etc, but it’s distant. It’s them. This was us. This was a world known landmark in the middle of one of our most wellknown cities. It was a shocking notification that we are not exempt from the problems of the world. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seven-years-after-september-11-2001/463087/33 "2008-09-11T15:57:16Z")
I always find this kind of amazing. I am looking out my office window at Ground Zero right now. There were more cops on the street this morning, but otherwise, it is just another day. Everyone is at work doing business. We all remember, because most of us were here when it happened and we all walked home. But it is what it is, and we still have meetings and deadlines. I suppose people are reflecting quietly and then just doing what they have to do. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seven-years-after-september-11-2001/463087/34 "2008-09-11T15:59:16Z")
> [@SkipMagic](#): > > I’ve merged all three of the 9/11 threads, in case anyone’s confused about where their thread went. Wait, so we can have 4,239 Palin threads, but only one about 9/11? ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seven-years-after-september-11-2001/463087/35 "2008-09-11T16:05:10Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally Posted by **Lanzy** > Today, the same company she was working for then is laying her off. I think that’s what is bothering me the most. She did her company proud and is a hero, but her name is on the drop list. That’s not right, Lanzy. Your wife has my sympathy and my respect. Good on her. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seven-years-after-september-11-2001/463087/36 "2008-09-11T16:10:55Z")
> [@WILLASS](#): > > Do you know what? This just saddens me further in that it shows how hardened a country can quickly become to terrorism - honestly, I don’t think Brits react in the same way due simply to the fact that it has been all too familiar. It saddens me even further that it seems as if this almost stole that ‘innocence’ from a lot of Americans. I realise that could sound very patronising but I swear I mean it in a very positive way - you guys have obviousley only recently been exposed to this kind of thing and it’s heart breaking seeing the reactions of people of shock and confusion something I never really noticed in Britain even when my Father was directly involved. > > I’m actually welling up a little bit here. I hope you understand that what I have said is not meant to be patronising and may have been explained badly but it makes sense to me and I hope it does to you. I understand what you’re saying as well. I feel a little weird expressing my grief and outrage sometimes, because I know how insulated we’ve been from an obviously commonplace happening for much of the rest of the world. When I think of the firebombing of Dresden, or the relentless attacks on London during WWII, or even the simple villages of Vietnam…people who lived (and live TODAY in various conflicts throughout the world) with this kind of violence as a steady diet, I often feel like 9/11 was “nothing” compared to the constant pounding other people have to endure. I know our event wasn’t “nothing” but I still feel the need to tone it down sometimes, out of respect for people who seem to never get a break. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seven-years-after-september-11-2001/463087/37 "2008-09-11T16:18:58Z")
> [@Nuke](#): > > In case you missed this the first time… > > [My 9-11 story - Different from others you've read...Seriously - In My Humble Opinion - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=210609) Thanks for posting that. I hadn’t seen it before, it’s a remarkable story. To follow up from what **WILLASS** said, I think we in Britain were rather desensitised to terrorism, but 9/11 was still profoundly shocking due to the scale of it. In London, after several quiet years, IRA bombs had been making a reappearance at that time. Less than six weeks before 9/11, a [bomb went off in Ealing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_August_2001_Ealing_bombing), less than a mile from where I lived at the time and outside a pub where I regularly drank (I heard the blast from my house). Nobody was killed and clearly it cannot compare with events of the following month, but I remember before 9/11 happened I was already feeling pretty depressed about terrorism increasing again. ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seven-years-after-september-11-2001/463087/38 "2008-09-11T16:22:05Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > That’s not right, Lanzy. Your wife has my sympathy and my respect. Good on her. Same here. Fucking assholes. She’s got my respect and sympathy too. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seven-years-after-september-11-2001/463087/39 "2008-09-11T16:27:38Z")
I’ve got to say, I’m not loving the videos with the music. Do I really need someone wailing to make me feel sadder? They just seem a bit too close to a Smallville ‘Clark and Lana Greatest Hits’ tribute video. The **South Park** about 9/11 conspiracy theories was on the other night (technically today), and I wondered ‘Is this going to be like Xmas, where shows trot out a terrorist-themed episode every year?’ ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seven-years-after-september-11-2001/463087/40 "2008-09-11T16:34:52Z")
On the bright side, it’s seven years later and Osama Bin Laden is either dead or hiding like a rat in a cave somewhere. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seven-years-after-september-11-2001/463087.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seven-years-after-september-11-2001/463087.md?page=3)